news

Housing Market Shows Signs of Evening Out in April

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (May 8, 2017) – There were 3,325 home closings reported for the month of April, according to figures provided by the Greater Nashville REALTORS®. This represents an increase of 1.3 percent from the 3,284 closings reported for April 2016.

Year-to-date closings total 11,663. That is a 7.1 percent increase compared to the 10,885 closings reported through April 2016.

“The second quarter of home sales, which is typically one of the strongest, started with positive gains," said Scott Troxel, Greater Nashville REALTORS President. "Year-to-date sales are up by almost one thousand units, making it likely we will see 40,000 or more closings this year, something we haven’t seen since 2006.

“While year-over-year sales were up for the month of April, there was a slowing down from the previous month,” said Troxel. “The struggle between low inventory and rising sales is beginning to even out. While supply is increasing, it has a way to go still to meet up with buyer demand. All indicators show we will continue to have growth in our market at a more even pace.”A comparison of sales by category for April is:

April 2016

April 2017

CLOSINGS

3,284

3,325

Residential

2,695

2,726

Condominium

365

355

Multi-Family

16

38

Fams/Land/Lots

208

206

There were 3,540 sales pending at the end of the month, compared to the 3,198 pending sales at this time last year. The average number of days on the market for a single-family home was 47 days.

The median residential price for a single-family home during April was $275,000 and for a condominium it was $195,255. This compares with last year’s median residential and condominium prices of $250,000 and $193,473, respectively.

Inventory at the end of April was 11,062, down from 12,244 in 2016. The current inventory of properties by category, compared to last year, is:

April 2016

April 2017

INVENTORY

12,244

11,062

Residential

8,318

7,605

Condominium

771

763

Multi-Family

96

62

Farms/Land/Lots

3,059

2,632

“The increase in year-over-year home sales for April was slightly lower than the gains we’ve seen the in the past several months. This dip is not a decline in the desire for homeownership. In fact, it’s the market catching up with itself,” said Troxel. “Achieving double-digit gains each month compared to the prior year in nearly impossible to sustain without a matching growth in inventory. Smaller, steady gains are more desirable and contribute to a long-term healthier market.”